The Peoria Park District is making progress on determining what will replace the July 3 fireworks at Glen Oak Park this year.
“One of our big question marks is, what are we doing?” said Emily Cahill, park district executive, to begin Thursday afternoon’s meeting of the programming committee.
It’s a question the park district has been wrestling with since a vote on March 13 canceled the Glen Oak Park event for this year, following concerns raised by law enforcement and community members.
Cahill distributed a printout including five “Things We Know” to the committee, which includes park board trustees Joyce Harant, Steve Montez and Laurie Covington, Riverfront Events Supervisor Nick Conrad, Superintendent of Recreation Scott Loftus and Deputy Director Brent Wheeler.
Those five things, summarized, include:
- The district has $30,000 in its budget for a July 3 or complimentary event.
- July 3 is on a Wednesday this year and generally very hot, impacting participation.
- Security issues in the evening hours were a “highlighted challenge” for the previous event.
- There is no anticipated outside support from local law enforcement for a replacement event at this time.
- The park district also will hold 11 “Rec ‘n Roll” events at Glen Oak Park from May to September 2024, with free programming to engage with East Bluff residents and get their feedback and input.
Operating from this base, the committee sketched out the rough outlines of two separate events that would take place later this year.
The first is on July 3, tentatively from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the park’s greenspace. After some deliberation, families with children and park district summer camp kids were determined as the “target audience” for the event. Activities could include inflatables, local entertainers and food.
A number of factors went into the decision for an earlier time slot for the July 3 event, including safety as the sun sets, the availability, or lack thereof, of additional security to aid park district police and the oppressive July heat.
“We just want fun, peaceful events the community enjoys,” said Wheeler.
Staff estimated a cost of $6,000 to $8,000 for the event, with a few thousand more dedicated to a marketing campaign stressing there wouldn’t be the traditional fireworks.
The second event is a Glen Oak Park birthday celebration, as the park in the center of Peoria’s East Bluff turns 130 this year. This will be on a yet-to-be-determined fall weekend, likely in September. The committee landed on a broader audience for this event: late middle school and high school aged children, as well as neighborhood families.
This event would be from around noon to 7 p.m., with a performance from the municipal band, food, and representation for businesses on the East Bluff to elevate the neighborhood’s history and traditions.
Staff estimated the cost at between $15,000 to $18,000, still within the $30,000 total originally budgeted for the July 3 fireworks.
Montez said he was still uncomfortable with leaving the evening slot on July 3 without an event, but wanted the staff and board to be looking ahead to 2025 and, hopefully, bring the fireworks back.
“If we can’t accommodate some of these things this year,” he said, “I don’t think it will be any easier next year.”
However, the committee also thinks a successful fall event could be a gateway to getting more engagement and feedback in the East Bluff community, positioning the park district for a successful return of the fireworks in 2025.
“The recognition, I think, for me in the end, is that we need that breather,” Harant said after the meeting. “We need that big change and having something successful in the fall. And then we come back and we will be planning then for July 3 in 2025. Or, you know, if the community says ‘let’s do it on a weekend and not the 3,’ then, you know, we can give ourselves the ability to be flexible and to think beyond the boxes.”
Ultimately, Harant and Montez both said they want to preserve something that maintains the spirit of an East Bluff tradition.
“I think that when we remove any event for whatever reasons, we have to make sure we leave something in its place,” said Montez. “And so I think that’s my concern — is that the East Bluff has a reason to come together as a group and celebrate.”
Park district staff will present firmer plans for the two events to the park board at a later meeting. The board is expected to discuss the programming committee’s progress at next week’s meeting, on Wednesday, April 10, with a more in-depth discussion happening when minutes are available at its regular meeting on Wednesday, April 24.
